


The Movement of Stars

by lacewingss



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Developing Relationship, First Dates, Fluff, Friendship, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-29
Updated: 2017-01-28
Packaged: 2018-09-20 14:40:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9496133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lacewingss/pseuds/lacewingss
Summary: After Yamaguchi drunkenly reveals his feelings for Tsukishima the two of them agree to move their friendship forward into a romantic relationship. They must navigate the changes this brings to their lives and the lives of those around them.Lots of fluff, probably lots of angst, and a general serving of college au shenanigans.A continuation of my fic If You Meant It, which tells how Yamaguchi and Tsukishima confess their feelings to each other. Maybe read that one first!





	

A week had passed since Tadashi drunkenly told Kei he loved him. Six days since he repeated it, sober and with tears streaming down his face. For Kei it had been years since he knew it to be true for himself.   
  
Nothing much changed between the two boys over the past week. They still woke up in the mornings, sometimes at the same time but mostly Kei hours before Tadashi. They went to class and volleyball practice; they took the same train home together. Every night dinner was more or less on the table, or else eaten hunched over piles of books on the floor. The dark parts of the night passed the same - Tadashi in his bed, and Kei in his own, separated by a wall insulated by anxiety and uncertainty.   
  
Maybe their hands brushed each others more often. Sometimes Kei would catch Tadashi watching him closely over the top of his cup of coffee. The space they left between them on the couch had shrunk, and when a draft swept in through the poorly treated windows they would now share the same blanket.   
  
The things that were different were small and hesitant, like a chick testing its wings before jumping out of the nest.   
  
_We’ll take it slow,_ they agreed. _There’s no rush._  
  
Rushing forward with no consideration was the type of thing Hinata did, and Kei would be damned if he acted the same way that scatterbrain did. So he and Tadashi decided that they would let things progress naturally, as they always had. Doing things naturally took over ten years to get them to this point, however, and Kei was getting tired of waiting. The things he dreamed about he was now able to admit without guilt, and after imagining for so long he was eager to make his fantasies real. For Tadashi, though, he would hold back. The last thing he wanted was to ruin this thing that only just started.  
  
Kei was sitting in the kitchen watching a video on his phone when Tadashi stumbled in. It was early for him: ten am on a Saturday, after Kei heard him still awake at four in the morning. He was still wearing the clothes he slept in - an old tee shirt from their high school volleyball team, two sizes too small, and plaid flannel pants that hung low enough on his waist that Kei could see the distinct lines his hip bones made.   
  
Tadashi raised a hand to rub at his eyes and yawned. He felt for the back of the chair and pulled it out just enough to slump into it. A wave of deja vu pulled at Kei’s perception. This same thing happened last week, though instead of smiling at Tadashi’s disheveled state he had wanted nothing more than to never look him in the eyes again. What a difference a week made. Or more accurately, a single moment, or a single sentence.  
  
This time Kei’s fingers twitched not because he wanted to curl them into a fist but because he wanted to reach out across the table and push a lock of Tadashi’s hair out of his face. _Would that be okay? That would fine now, right?_ He raised his wrist an inch off the table, then two. He was about to straighten his elbow and extend his arm when Tadashi pushed the hair aside himself.  
  
He let his arm fall back on the table, trying to make the motion look natural. Tadashi did not notice, just like he did not notice any time in the past week when Kei attempted to reach out to him, only to lose courage at the last minute.   
  
As tired as Kei was of waiting, he also found it difficult to speed things up.    
  
After a mumbled ‘good morning’ Tadashi pushed himself up from the chair and began to rummage around the kitchen cupboards. Kei could not go back to focusing on the video streaming to his phone. His eyes instead watched Tadashi as he reached for the high shelf, his heels lifting off the floor. Kei’s own feet slid a few inches back on the tile beneath him, as if in preparation of standing up.   
  
_I could get out of my chair too_ , he thought. _Walk up behind Tadashi and put my arms around him._   
  
 Tadashi returned to the table with a bowl full of cereal and milk.   
  
Kei and Tadashi had a rhythm. It was comfortable and safe and it could go on indefinitely. What they needed, Kei realized, was to break that rhythm.   
  
“Hey,” he said, seeking Tadashi’s attention. The other boy looked up from his cereal, a drop of milk clinging to his lip before being licked away.  
  
Kei swallowed the excess saliva that suddenly filled his mouth and continued. “Let’s go out on Wednesday night.”   
  
“Sure, Tsukki,” Tadashi answered with no hesitation. He pushed another spoonful of cereal into his mouth before his eyes went wide. He coughed, sputtering a bit of milk across the bowl in front of him.   
  
“Wait, you mean l-like a date?”  
  
Kei let himself laugh at Tadashi’s surprised expression and the mess he made of his breakfast. “Yeah,” he said simply.   
  
Wednesday’s weren’t a typical date night, Kei knew that. What they were, though, was the only night of the week that he and Tadashi reliably had a few hours free. Practice ended early, and Tadashi did not have a night class. Kei’s study group did not meet on Wednesday’s, and there were never any last minute invitations to social events. Wednesday’s were nights for the two of them.   
  
“Our first date! Yes!” Tadashi was grinning now, his eyes scrunched up around the corners and his cheeks stretched from the strain. The look on his face alone was almost worth waiting so long to suggest a date. Almost.   
  
“What do you want to do?” Tadashi asked around another bite of food.   
  
Kei smirked, and tried his best to look down at his phone, indifferent.  
  
“It’s a surprise.”  
  
Kei had dreamed up a thousand dates in his head over the years. Hundreds of nights out or afternoons spent in, each one etched into the part of his memory reserved for fantasies involving Tadashi. Suddenly none of them were good enough.   
  
Wednesday was five days away, though. He was certain he could come up with the perfect first date by then. There was no other option.   
  
“No way. You’re going to plan a whole date?” Tadashi laughed, the skepticism clear on his freckled face. “This’ll be fun.”  
  
“If you think I don’t know exactly what you like…”  
  
“No, no,” Tadashi said, waving his hands up in defense. There was still a glimmer of laughter in his eyes, and Kei for once did not care that he was being lied to. “I’m sure you’ll pick something great.”  
  
Finished with his cereal, Tadashi stood up and brought the bowl to the sink. It might have been Kei’s imagination but he thought there was more of a skip in Tadashi’s step than there ever was this early in the morning.  
  
“Mhmm,” Kei answered. “Hand me the coffee?”  
  
Tadashi nodded and poured him a cup, even going so far as to find the cream in the fridge and add it until the coffee was a pale brown. He brought it to where Kei was sitting, walking slowly so not to spill the over filled mug. When he placed it on the table he did not move away, but leaned back against the wood in a position that made Kei very aware of how close he was.   
  
“Oh! Are we going to go on a coffee date maybe?” he asked.  
  
An intimate date at a tucked away cafe had been high on Kei’s list of dream scenarios. A place with good music and coffee with so much whipped cream that he had to use his thumb to wipe it off Tadashi’s lips. Maybe for a second date.  
  
“If we were I wouldn’t tell you.”  
  
“No?” Tadashi questioned. He gave Kei a mischievous smile and leaned closer across the table. “I bet I can get it out of you before Wednesday.”  
  
Kei returned a smirk of his own, and crossed his arms over his chest, resolute.   
  
“I don’t think so.”  
  
“I do! You can’t hide anything from me, Tsukki.”   
  
_I think I did a good job hiding my feelings from you,_ Kei thought. _Too good a job, maybe._   
  
This time before answering Kei followed Tadashi’s lead and leaned forward in his chair until he was only inches away from the other boy. His eyes roamed over Tadashi’s face, taking in the bright expression and sense of confidence he wished would reach the surface more often.   
  
“That’s only because you’re too cute,” he said. “It has nothing to do with your interrogation skills.”  
  
Tadashi’s face turned red faster than Kei could believe. It started in the middle of his cheeks and spread like wild fire until even the tips of his ears were pink.   
  
It was the first time Kei had called Tadashi cute, at least out loud. The words were surprisingly easy; they flowed off his tongue like he had said them a million times before. He wanted to say them again, to say even more things just to see what expression Tadashi would make. Maybe there were new expressions Kei had yet to see, ones that he would become addicted to causing.  
  
Tadashi valiantly tried to hide his embarrassment, but did not back away from Kei’s nearness. “I-if you’re trying to distract me-"  
  
He paused, his eyes growing wide.   
  
“Oh, I’m going to be late meeting Hinata! I’ve got to get dressed!” With a small push off the table, Tadashi was halfway across the kitchen. Kei watched him rush away, a hollow feeling settling in his chest that he could only identify as disappointment. 

* * *

  
  
“A date?” The voice coming through the speakers of Kei’s laptop sounded incredulous. “With Yamaguchi?”  
  
On the screen Kuroo and Bokuto’s faces both morphed into mirroring grins.   
  
“It’s about damn time,” Bokuto said, nudging Kuroo half out of the frame. He brought his face close to the camera and shook his head.  “We were starting to think you’d die before you said anything.”  
  
Kei adjusted the set of headphones over his ears, flinching at how loud Bokuto’s voice was when he spoke so close to the microphone. It was almost as bad as when he was there in person.  
  
“Gee, thanks,” he said flatly. He was ready to face whatever his two friends had to say about he and Tadashi starting to date, but not to discover they already knew about his feelings. That he was so easy to read agitated him.   
  
Somewhere in Tokyo Kuroo shoved his way back into the view of his webcam, and Kei could once again see his whole face.   
  
“So what, do you need love advice? Sex advice?”   
  
The grin he gave the camera made Kei want to retch. This was a bad idea.   
  
Before he could shut down any notion of needing advice in _that_ area, Bokuto cut in with usual disregard.  
  
“Oho, I can help with that. You just get comfortable and let Bokuto tell you a story.”  
  
Kei considered closing his laptop. Skype called ended, power off. His hand even gripped the edge of the screen in preparation. Why did Bokuto have to be with Kuroo every time Kei wanted to talk? The thought that many of his friends probably thought the same about him and Tadashi did not cross his mind. That was different.   
  
“God,” he sighed, and brought his hand away from the screen. “Why did I tell you this? What temporary insanity overcame me.”  
  
He should have known when he texted Kuroo that morning that it was not going to be as simple as asking for advice and receiving it. No, Kuroo always liked to tease him a bit before offering real advice, and Bokuto, well, Kei would be surprised if he had any real advice to give. They were two of Kei’s closest friends apart from Tadashi though, and he he did not know who else to turn to.   
  
“Chill out,” Kuroo said. “Bo, you calm down too. Can’t you see our little Tsukki needs serious help?”  
  
Kei’s jaw clenched. No matter how many times  they called him Tsukki it never ceased to irritate him. It only sounded right coming from Tadashi.  
  
“We can see you roll your eyes you know,” Kuroo scolded. He settled against the couch he and Bokuto were sitting side by side on.  “Now what’s the issue?”  
  
“There’s no issue,” Kei said, defensive. He paused and bit the inside of his lip; he needed their help, but it was hard to admit he was at a loss. “I’m planning our first date. I’ve got plenty of ideas, I just…”  
  
“Can’t pick the right one?”   
  
There was an exaggerated gasp in Kei’s headphones.   
  
“Is Tsukki admitting he can’t do something himself? Quick Kuroo, take a screenshot!”  
  
“Bo, I swear to god.” Kuroo pushed at Bokuto’s arm, playfully threatening him. When he turned back to the camera his expression shifted to something more gentle.       
      
“Listen, Tsukki. You’re been in love with Yamaguchi how long? And believe me it’s obvious he’s loved you too. Just pick anything.”  
  
 _It’s obvious._ Had his and Tadashi’s feelings for each other been obvious to everyone but them? How embarrassing. Still, the thought of Tadashi returning his feelings was new to Kei, and when he heard it stated as a fact from Kuroo he did not fail to notice the way his heart rate sped up, or the smile he stubbornly resisted that tried to tug at his lips.  
  
“Wow, why didn’t I think of that myself?” he drawled. Just picking anything was harder than it sounded. Already he had gone through dozens of date ideas in the past day and a half, rejecting each for one reason or another. Too cliche, too boring, too much for a first date. Nothing he thought of was perfect enough. Add to that Tadashi pestering him every chance he got with guesses of what Kei had planned and he was desperate enough to call Kuroo. And here he was now, no better off than before the call.   
  
Luckily he still had two days.  
  
“Cut back the sarcasm,” Kuroo said with a grin. “We’re helping.”    
  
“Now, about that sex advice…” Bokuto added, and Kei knew the conversation was only going to go downhill from there.  
  


* * *

  
  
Wednesday came faster than Kei liked. That’s how it always was; the more he wanted just one more day, one more hour to prepare the quicker time moved. Before he knew it the clock hanging on the gymnasium wall read five in the evening, and Daichi was telling everyone to go home and rest in preparation for their long practice tomorrow.   
  
Kei followed his teammates out of the open court and into the locker room where they were already shrugging off the serious tone of practice. There were conversations about exams and weekend plans, and the usual teasing that Kei himself was often the center of. Today he let Tanaka take over and headed straight to his locker to change clothes. He passed by Tadashi on the way, who was busy pulling a shirt over his head. He resisted the urge to stop and help slip the collar past his hair. There was no reason to draw attention to the two of them just yet. Or ever.   
  
By the time Kei changed clothes and splashed water over his sweat damp face the locker room was mostly empty. Asahi was still working through the knots in his hair with a fine comb, wincing as the tangles caught and tugged at his scalp. He gave Kei a half hearted smile as he walked by.  
  
At the door Tadashi was chatting with Hinata. He was leaning on the frame, one foot tapping against the floor to some unheard music. Kei approached with his expression set, just like this was any other day. He and Tadashi always left practice together. Everyone knew they shared an apartment; there was nothing suspicious about the two of them heading out at the same time.  
  
And yet Hinata had a shit eating grin on his face the moment he saw Kei.  
  
Tadashi turned in the direction Hinata was looking and gave a small wave. He picked up his bag from the floor and shouldered it as Kei reached him, ready to leave. Kei spared a single nod at Hinata and, without stopping, continued to walk through the door. Tadashi followed with a hastily shouted goodbye at Hinata.   
  
“Bye Yamaguchi!” Hinata called after them, and Kei was not yet far enough away to miss his manic giggle. “Have fun on your date!”  
  
Kei stopped walking and Tadashi, who had been looking back at Hinata, bumped into his back.   
  
“You told him?” Kei asked, looking down at Tadashi with raised brows. Of all the people Tadashi could have mentioned this to, it had to be Hinata. The loud mouth. The little ray of sunshine that Kei wanted to douse with a fire hose. If Hinata knew about his and Tadashi’s date then soon everyone on the team would. Was it too much to ask to keep their new found relationship quiet until he better knew how to handle it? All he wanted was the time to make it perfect without interference. But that looked unlikely, now.  
  
“Well, yeah,” Tadashi said, shrugging. “I wanted to tell everyone, but.”  
  
Kei was somewhere between mortified and ecstatic that Tadashi wanted everyone to know about the two of them. Mortified won out in the end as he imagined the endless teasing that would be doled out to him in some sick form of karma.  
  
At his side Tadashi was pulling his phone out from his pocket.   
  
“Besides, you told Kuroo! He texted me.”  
  
Kei did not try to read the text on the screen that Tadashi was holding in front of his face. He did not want to know. _I should never have told Kuroo,_ he thought not for the last time.  
  
“I’m going to kill him.”  
  
“Do it tomorrow, then,” Tadashi said. “Tonight let’s go on our date.”  
  
The sudden pressure of Tadashi’s hand gripping his caused Kei to misstep. He shuffled his feet forward, rebalancing himself before looking down at the small hand around his. It was surprisingly soft, and Kei recalled the hand lotion that sat on the bathroom counter which he never used, but was now certain Tadashi did.  
  
“Yeah,” Kei answered, still entranced by the way their hands fit together. He looked up to see Tadashi watching his face closely. “Are you ready?”  
  
“Yep! I’ve…I’ve been ready for a long time, you know.”  
  
Kei changed the position of his hand so his fingers laced with Tadashi’s.  
  
“Me too.”        


End file.
